We began the evening with small discussions about what we did over the summer and how it may have had a significant effect in our life. Initially I think we were all very hesitant to share a personal part of ourselves with each other, but by the end of the night I think it helped the house really get to know each other. Being able to put our life obstacles in perspective, I believe it allowed us to reflect and re-evaluate ourselves and truly tap into our stores of personal growth.
A lot of our summers were important for maturing as students and people. Throughout the discussion we spoke about epiphanies and struggles, and one of the biggest learning experiences we all shared was overcoming the difficulty in being honest with ourselves and saying, “I actually do not want to spend the rest of my life working in a lab doing this research,” or “I really enjoyed this project over the summer but I want something different, something more.” It’s really tough saying as a student I’m still searching for what fulfills me in life and I don’t quite yet know what I want to do in the next stage in life, but it’s definitely easier having a supportive community like McKelvy House. We challenged the house to support each other in our struggles and moments of growth throughout the year since it’s so easy to get distracted with school and forget about why we’re here. Change can be motivated by others and this is the environment we wanted to encourage in the house.